This invention relates to an improved breast-supporting garment, and is described primarily in terms of an underwire brassiere (hereinafter “bra”), which is modified by positioning upper central sections of left and right underwires against each other to provide increased and comfortable support of the breasts. The invention is not limited to back- and shoulder-strap bras, and is applicable to underwire breast cups which are incorporated in strapless bras, corsets, swimwear, dresses, and other breast-supporting garments.
Underwire bras have left and right breast cups each having a hollow lining or casing, typically of sewn fabric, and extending from an inner central part of the cup, around the bottom of the cup, and upwardly along at least a portion of the cup outer edge. An underwire (typically metal, but could also be plastic, or a tightly compressed and stiff strand of cotton or a similar material) is inserted in each casing channel to facilitate positioning and increased support of the breasts. The fabric casing is not an essential feature, and other attachment methods such as sewing or gluing can be used to secure the underwire to the breast-cup edge.
Prior-art bra designs use two separated underwires which are not in contact, or are in only point contact at the underwire ends. Such point contact provides little mutual lateral support of the underwire and breast cups.
It has been found that a significant improvement in breast support can be achieved by providing underwires with overlapping straight and upwardly extending inner sections which are either secured in direct tangential and parallel contact with each other, or so held firmly together by an enclosing tube-like capsule. The abutted inner sections provide significantly additional lateral and vertical support for the underwires, cups, and breasts, and the design is especially advantageous with larger breast cups. Such larger sizes can also be of a demi-cup configuration for a more revealing cleavage, and a smaller amount of cup material.